No big shock here, but Al Qaida in Iraq claimed responsibility for the triple suicide bombings in Amman, Jordan.
“A group of our best lions launched a new attack on some dens… After casing the targets, some hotels were chosen which the Jordanian despot turned into a backyard for the enemies of the faith, the Jews and crusaders,” the statement said.
Not to pick apart the statement . . . actually, yes, I’ll do that a bit with what I have to work with. The hotels were American owned, but the majority of those staying in them were Jordanians completely unconnected to the Coalition. The wedding party at the Radison was a Muslim wedding and they were not American Muslims; they too were Jordanian. I suppose Jordanians traveling to Amman on vacation are somehow Crusading, for lower hotel rates possibly.
Nevertheless, logic and where AQ chooses to strike do not mix. The only thing logical about their strikes is knowing they have preferred targets and preferred nations and cities to hit. The Lions reference goes back to Osama Bin Laden’s training camp during the Afghan-Soviet war called ‘The Lions Den.’ Interesting that Zarqawi, or the spokesman for AQ in Iraq, chooses this point of reference.
Update:
More on Al Qaida in Iraq’s claim of responsibility.
“Despite the security measures that the traitor (Abdullah), the son of the traitor (the late King Hussein), to protect such (sites) … the soldiers of Al-Qaeda succeeded in reaching their objectives and fulfilling them,” it said.
The Zarqawi group warned Abdullah II that his country was now “in the line of fire” for having become a “protective wall” for Israel and a base for US-led forces in Iraq.
“Let the dictator of Amman know that the protection wall for the Jews which was built east of the Jordan (river), and the military backbase of the Crusader armies and the (Iraqi) government of the (Shiites)…are now in the line of fire of the mujahedeens (fighters) and their raids,” it said.
Ah, yes. It all goes back to the Jews. Heh. Zarqawi, a Jordanian himself, has never been friendly to the Abdullah regime, having spent time in prison for conspiring to launch terrorist attacks in Jordan previously. This announcement that he is ready to continue attacking Jordan should not come as a shock nor should we believe his rationale for attacking Jordan is linked to Israel or the United States.
When he was orginally incarcerated in Jordan, he claimed he was launching attacks because of the opression of the Abdullah regime. Zarqawi though was a troubled youth who enjoyed the life that many of us in the West take for granted and some even scorn (i.e. tatoos, alcohol, womanizing, etc.). His crying over the path of his life while in prison though earned him the respect of fellow inmates who thought he was deeply involved in his faith.
Flopping Aces linked with The Jordan Bombings
Panther6170 - 
Tom Killebrew - 
Emm Bayoumi - 
lyndsey -
Abu al Zarqawi’s group has taken credit for these attacks. I keep pointing out a news story from 2003 which came and went so quickly that I’m not sure people even saw it or registered its importance. According to the Pentagon, the military offered the Bush administration three opportunities to kill Zarqawi in the months leading up to the invasion. He was based in the Kurdish-controlled northern part of the country. Each time, the Bush administration refused to go ahead because killing Zarqawi would “undercut the administration’s rational for invasion.” In other words, for political purposes, the Bush administration decided not to let the military kill Zarqawi. Zarqawi has gone on to kill hundreds including personally cutting the heads off two Americans. When will the Bush administration be held accountable for this mistake?
Comment by Bill — Thursday, November 10, 2005 @ 12:25 pm UTC
That’s the first I have heard of opportunities to kill Zarqawi. While Zarqawi was the Al Qaida emissary, so to speak, to Iraq prior to the invasion, there were several other links between the group and the nation therefore it would have hardly undercut the rationale. I’d be interested in the article if you could drum it up though.
Comment by Chad Evans — Thursday, November 10, 2005 @ 2:37 pm UTC
Chad, the article I was thinking of was in the Washington Post in 2003. But, I did find this MSNBC article about the issue: http://www.msnbc.msn.com/id/4431601/ by using Google.
Comment by Bill — Thursday, November 10, 2005 @ 5:01 pm UTC
How to ruin a conservative blog thread before it even starts: begin with a disturbing fact which challenges conservative myths. Conservatives run for cover and the thread never gets going. You guys are just pathetic.
Comment by Bill — Friday, November 11, 2005 @ 4:38 pm UTC
Actually, Bill, I’m doing other research on the topic and I was at the cancer center most of the day with my mother or actually trying to earn a living. Choose your words carefully in the future or don’t bother commenting or reading.
Comment by Chad Evans — Friday, November 11, 2005 @ 4:44 pm UTC
OK, Chad, I’m very sorry about your Mother and good luck to both of you. I’ve gone through the same thing and it’s very, very hard. My post, however, was not directed at you personally, but at conservative posters in general. This particular story, to me, is a great example of how weak the “liberal media” argument is. If there really was a liberal media, I would have thought that they would make this story a big one — especially after the same guy went and cut Americans’ heads off.
But, again, bless you. I’m very sorry when people have to go through this kind of thing.
Comment by Bill — Friday, November 11, 2005 @ 5:12 pm UTC